We'll be re-broadcasting a previous show (probably last week's) since it's a Holiday Weekend. Be sure to catch it (7p - 11p ET on Saturday) via www.BradShow.com if you didn't last week! It was a great show and includes interviews with Jim Lampley, Sen. Dick Durbin, and "Operation Iraqi Freedom" vet USMC 1st Lt. Andrew Borene amongst others!

Beyond that, enjoy the weekend and take a break from saving democracy if you wish! I'm guessing that you, like I, can use the break! Though I have a feeling I'll still be on duty throughout the next few days...at least somewhat.

While we take the time to remember those who fought and died for what's left of our freedoms and those who are doing so on behalf of this country even as I write...allow me to thank all of you who have fought so hard and so tirelessly over the last several months and years attempting to preserve those same freedoms. I know that it's been easy for none of us and --- though nothing like those who have given their lives for the cause --- has taken a toll on all of us. A toll, however, that I firmly believe will prove before long to have been well worth it.

So thank you endlessly to all of the BRAD BLOG Freedom Fighters! Now go enjoy the weekend!

Thanks Brad! You enjoy some time off too. We can keep it going here and, hopefully, all send some good vibes to the troops forced into harms way by Bush's illegal war. Just leave us an open thread and we'll be fine. Matter of fact, this should serve fine as an open thread.

#3 Brad --
Yeah, it's only going to get worse as the wheels come off, Brad. June will be hell if I'm reading the cornered neocons correctly. Do what ya gotta do and enjoy what you can, when you can, cuz shits hitting the fan and we ain't seen nuthin yet.

Smile, pat yourself on the back for me (and "6 or 7" of our best friends) for all you've accomplished. Take good care of you and yours... the neocon agenda could escalate for years.

#4 Kira, #6 Peg C --
HI! Feels great to be back! Still too busy with favors but I'm gnawing my way back. I think.

Most Americans are growing extremely weary of the malgovernance,ineptitude,and legalized corruption perpetuated by the legal profession,bureaucracy, & lobbyists.However,only a few are focused on the core problems causing this sickness.Too many patriotic Americans concentrate on treating particular symptoms rather than curing the disease.If the patient has AIDS, he/she does not need to be treated for sores only.When the fascists,monarchs,& communists ruled nations,the people had to make the removal of its system of governance their number one priority.Yet the whole nation is immersed in a maze of issues,however important, without addressing these basic matters simply because everything has been unnecessarily complicated.
Listed are probable solutions.

1. America needs verifiable and traceable elections which are tabulated on a grassroots level. Paper ballots should be used.Preferably,the secret ballot process should be abolished.

2. The United States is not an unbridled democracy.Practicing judicial advocates should not serve in legislative and executive branches due to obvious conflict of interest. It is highly unconstitutional because it flagrantly violates the Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances concepts.

3. Non-attorneys should be eligible for judgeship at the state and local level. Judges and prosecutors should banned from belonging to private organizations,comprising solely of advocates,in which its purpose will obviously be the advancement of its agenda.

4.All bar associations should be stripped of their authority to license counsel. No permission from a private organization should be necessary for a truly private sector citizen to assist another citizen in any manner on any legal matter. Judicial advocate organizations should be excluded from the judge-selection process.

5. All regulatory agencies should be abolished and all regulations repealed.Only lawmakers or the people through direct referendum should regulate society with laws. Laws should be written in plain english and it should not be exclusively written by judicial advocates in "legalese". All enforcement of laws should be borne by state and local police.The only exception should be issues involving vital national security interests which includes espionage.

6.All contributors and contributions to political campaigns should be made public record.Only American citizens should be allowed to contribute. While reasonable limits can be placed on direct contributions, any other restrictions would be a blatant infringement on an individual's First Amendment Right.

7.Repeal the Federal Reserve Act and abolish the Federal Reserve. The printing and coining of currency should be the sole responsibility of an U.S. government agency, the U.S. Treasury.

8.Allow the military to manage the military. Civilian legislators and the Commander-In-Chief should only decide when to use the military and how much funds it should recieve.

9.America must protect its sovereignty by restricting the role of the U.N. as a meeting place for all nations to voice their opinions. All taxpayer funding of the IMF & World Bank must be stoped. If government wishes to contribute foreign aid and loans, it must do so on an ad hoc basis. No member of the three branches of government can belong to any private organization that is foreign based five years before and five years after public service.

10.The United States Constitution must be reinstated as the supreme law of the land. Portions of the 14th Amendment must be repealed along with subsequent legislation,executive orders, and court decisions which reaffirm the gold-fringe flag in all government(including the courts).

The threat of instant bankruptcy and poverty due to outrageous healthcare,education, and legal costs will erode civility/trust and has promoted panic and social tensions. As more people are working two jobs and longer hours just to make ends meet, the ability to earn an honest productive living will decrease significantly. This has already adversely affected the family structure. With recession, joblessness,and even war looming on the horizon, it is imperative these proposals are implemented.

"10.The United States Constitution must be reinstated as the supreme law of the land."

Absolutely correct.

"The threat of instant bankruptcy and poverty due to outrageous healthcare,education, and legal costs will erode civility/trust and has promoted panic and social tensions. As more people are working two jobs and longer hours just to make ends meet, the ability to earn an honest productive living will decrease significantly. This has already adversely affected the family structure. With recession, joblessness,and even war looming on the horizon, it is imperative these proposals are implemented."

Breaking news on BBV from 27 May 2005 - describes details of how they hacked a Diebold optical scanner 3 ways under election conditions in Florida. (There is an executable program in the removable memory card which means you can change all the data and leave no trace.)

This makes for riveting--and deeply disturbing--reading. The county election official who gave them access to the equipment was clearly stunned, as he had far better security precautions in place than most counties have.

How many similar vulnerabilities are embedded in other systems by other manufacturers?

"Now if you'll all turn to page 6, you'll see a picture of the pet goat I've been telling you about..."

ON A NEW TOPIC:

Today's New York Times has a FRONT-PAGE story about the missing coins in Ohio. Folks, this has potential that extends to the 2004 election.

For those not current on the story, a Republican power broker and fund-raiser in Ohio, Thomas Noe, who collected rare coins in his spare time, somehow persuaded Ohio's Workmen's Compensation Fund to buy $50 million of Noe's coins as an "investment," even though coins are notoriously illiquid (not readily marketable) and thus unsuitable for any public account.

Worse, the fund allowed Noe himself to "manage" the account, apparently in recompense for Noe's fund-raising activity that resulted in large contributions to every Ohio Republican above the precinct level over the years. In 2004, Noe was one of Bush's "pioneers," meaning he raised over $100,000 separately for the campaign. Turns out that was small potatoes for Noe.

Now $13 million of the $50 million is "missing." Oh, dear. Gov. Bob Taft is in high dudgeon..."I'm outraged, angered, saddened, and I'm sickened by what we learned yesterday from MR. NOE'S ATTORNEY," he said. Meanwhile, that same attorney says, "It's premature to talk about criminal conduct until (criminal) investigations are complete." Right...and until we investigate 9/11, we won't know if planes that hit the World Trade Center crashed accidentally.

This is beautiful. Blackwell, Petro, and Montgomery, all competing to succeed Taft as governor next year, are falling all over each other to moralize over this. Is it just possible, friends, that as Ohio newspapers (the Toledo Blade has been in the forefront of this) recognize the level of corruption that pervades their state, that the stolen 2004 election will be recognized once and for all?

Have a great weekend neighbours ! (I filled out the community assistant form but was clueless on how to get it to here:-)

Recently their Fifth Estate News magazine did a documentary on Dick Cheney (to be aired again on Saturday, May 28 at 11:00 pm) "American Vice-President Dick Cheney's remarkable life story involves the relentless accumulation of power in every form, but what has it involved in terms of costs for others, and what might history's judgment be?"

Should you be interested in checking out the CBC's unauthorized biography of Cheney, but don't have access to CBC Television, you can read it all, including --- now, this is a novel idea --- the CBC's sources at http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/dickcheney/

It is official Blogs are being spied on. The ACLU just kicked off a lawsuit after some documents they got in an FOIA request show that a major domestic spy program is underway:

"Although the FBI has refused to turn over most of the files, we have obtained evidence (pdf) that confirms the FBI and local police, working through Joint Terrorism Task Forces, are spying on political, environmental, anti-war and faith-based groups." (link here).

Brad - hope you get some rest this weekend! At least a little bit! Thank you again for everything you do! ((((hugs))))

Winter Patriot #11 - Thank you!! Great piece to copy and leave laying about! (We have to be the equivalent of town-criers these days!)

Reg #12 - Beautiful! Thank you! ANOTHER great piece to print out and spread about!

Catherine #19 - Things are breaking open on all kinds of fronts! Thanks for the link to this one!

RLM #21 - "Beautiful" is an understatement! What are the chances that all the top dogs are involved in this? Taft acting so outraged! Heh! Let's all say a little prayer that it brings the whole house of cards tumbling down in occupied Ohio!!

Everyone! thank you for being here and helping save our country!! You Brad Bloggers are AWESOME!

Finally, to hear a true blue American hero, HERE's where you can go to listen to General Clark's DNC Memorial Day Address from today!

Isn't it wonderful - our taxes pay the FBI to snoop on us so they can stop us from being patriotic Americans. I have a terrible foreboding that spying on blogs and the secret raids of Alberto Gonzales that Mike Whitney wrote of on CounterPunch are related. If we lapse into thinking that things aren't really so bad, we should remember Chuck Baldwin's point that full blown totalitarianism is approached in increments.

The Senate Intelligence Committee is taking initial steps to greatly expand the power of the FBI under the USA Patriot Act. On Tuesday the FBI formally asked Congress for sweeping new powers to seize private records without first securing approval from a judge. According to the American Civil Liberties Union this power would let agents seize records from medical facilities, libraries, hotels, gun dealers, banks and any other business, without having to appear before a judge, and without any evidence that the people targeted are involved in any criminal activity.

WP (#11): Good reading, by Chuck Baldwin. Illustrates the point we keep getting back to.

The atrocities committed by this administration are neither a conservative nor liberal issue, but an issue of calling a criminal agenda what it is: criminal. Corporatism is also against the spirit of our laws. It's fascism.

If you approve of the crimes of this administration, you're a conservative, and if you disapprove, you're a liberal?

Bullshit. That's the logic of one who is severely socially challenged. Chuck Baldwin viewpoint is just one example of how true it is that this is not a conservative/liberal issue.

Kira, sometime in the last week-and-a-half or so you posted a message as "OT" that had a link to someone's piece about some of the bombings by "insurgents" in Iraq being carried out by US military. It was a good article that mentioned a couple other good websites.

Despite searching on most of the the recent topics, I haven't been able to find this post of yours. If it's not too much trouble, could you repost this link?

Kira, sometime in the last week-and-a-half or so you posted a message as "OT" that had a link to someone's piece about some of the bombings by "insurgents" in Iraq being carried out by US military. It was a good article that mentioned a couple other good websites.

Despite searching on most of the the recent topics, I haven't been able to find this post of yours. If it's not too much trouble, could you repost this link?

re #36 ... well then ... Thanks for that link, Peg! ... I often read comments and load all the links that people have posted, bookmark them all and read them later ... and often I don't remember who has posted what ... that makes it tough to give credit where it's due ... thanks again, Peg!